Land Use & Community Lawyering

This New York City-focused seminar prepares students who will represent community stakeholders in land use initiatives implicating community economic development, the availability of affordable housing, and issues of environmental justice, sustainability, and resilience. Seminar students will participate in collaborative group projects and role plays derived from actual local land use cases as methods to promote understanding of concepts in the law of property and contracts, constitutional law, state and local government law, New York civil practice, and administrative law, and to build lawyering capacity in drafting, negotiation, and informal advocacy. Representative course topics include use of the eminent domain power in economic development contexts; the function of community benefits agreements; financing and incentives for preserving and developing affordable housing; the regulatory frameworks for subsidized and rent-regulated housing in New York City; and the responsibilities of local government in responding to climate change, particularly in relation to vulnerable communities at the urban periphery.

Fall